HoustonHouston is the most populous city in
TexasTexas and the fourth largest in
the U.S., while
San AntonioSan Antonio is the second-most populous in the state
and seventh largest in the U.S. Dallas–
Fort Worth and Greater
HoustonHouston are the fourth and fifth largest metropolitan statistical
areas in the country, respectively. Other major cities include Austin
, the second-most populous state capital in the U.S., and
El Paso .
TexasTexas is nicknamed "The Lone Star State" to signify its former status
as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the state's struggle
for independence from
MexicoMexico . The "Lone Star" can be found on the
TexasTexas state flag and on the Texan state seal. The origin of Texas's
name is from the word "Tejas," which means "friends" in the Caddo
language.

Due to its size and geologic features such as the
Balcones Fault ,
TexasTexas contains diverse landscapes common to both the U.S. Southern and
Southwestern regions . Although
TexasTexas is popularly associated with
the U.S. southwestern deserts , less than 10% of Texas' land area is
desert . Most of the population centers are located in areas of
former prairies , grasslands , forests , and the coastline . Traveling
from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal
swamps and piney woods , to rolling plains and rugged hills, and
finally the desert and mountains of the Big Bend .

Historically four major industries shaped the
TexasTexas economy prior to
World War IIWorld War II : cattle and bison, cotton, timber, and oil. Before and
after the U.S. Civil War the cattle industry, which
TexasTexas came to
dominate, was a major economic driver for the state, thus creating the
traditional image of the
TexasTexas cowboy. In the later 19th century
cotton and lumber grew to be major industries as the cattle industry
became less lucrative. It was ultimately, though, the discovery of
major petroleum deposits (
Spindletop in particular) that initiated an
economic boom which became the driving force behind the economy for
much of the 20th century. With strong investments in universities,
TexasTexas developed a diversified economy and high tech industry in the
mid-20th century. As of 2015, it is second on the list of the most
Fortune 500Fortune 500 companies with 54. With a growing base of industry, the
state leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals
, energy , computers and electronics , aerospace , and biomedical
sciences .
TexasTexas has led the nation in state export revenue since
2002, and has the second-highest gross state product . If it were a
country,
TexasTexas would be the 10th largest economy in the world .

TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state, after
AlaskaAlaska , with an area
of 268,820 square miles (696,200 km2). Though 10% larger than France
and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th
worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size . If it were an
independent country,
TexasTexas would be the 40th largest behind
ChileChile and
ZambiaZambia .

The
Great Plains region in central
TexasTexas is located in spans through
the state's panhandle and
Llano Estacado to the state's hill country
near Austin. This region is dominated by prairie and steppe . "Far
West Texas" or the "
Trans-Pecos " region is the state's Basin and
Range Province. The most varied of the regions, this area includes
Sand Hills, the Stockton Plateau, desert valleys, wooded mountain
slopes and desert grasslands.

TexasTexas has 3,700 named streams and 15 major rivers, with the Rio
Grande as the largest. Other major rivers include the Pecos , the
Brazos ,
ColoradoColorado , and Red River . While
TexasTexas has few natural lakes,
Texans have built over 100 artificial reservoirs .

The size and unique history of
TexasTexas make its regional affiliation
debatable; it can be fairly considered a Southern or a Southwestern
state, or both. The vast geographic, economic, and cultural diversity
within the state itself prohibits easy categorization of the whole
state into a recognized region of the
United StatesUnited States . Notable extremes
range from
East TexasEast Texas which is often considered an extension of the
Deep SouthDeep South , to Far
West Texas which is generally acknowledged to be
part of the interior Southwest .

These
PrecambrianPrecambrian igneous and metamorphic rocks underlie most of the
state, and are exposed in three places: Llano uplift, Van Horn , and
the Franklin Mountains , near El Paso.
Sedimentary rocks overlay most
of these ancient rocks. The oldest sediments were deposited on the
flanks of a rifted continental margin, or passive margin that
developed during
CambrianCambrian time.

The late
Paleozoic mountains collapsed as rifting in the Jurassic
period began to open the Gulf of Mexico.
Pangea began to break up in
the
TriassicTriassic , but seafloor spreading to form the Gulf of Mexico
occurred only in the mid and late
JurassicJurassic . The shoreline shifted
again to the eastern margin of the state and the Gulf of Mexico
passive margin began to form. Today 9 to 12 miles (14 to 19 km) of
sediments are buried beneath the
TexasTexas continental shelf and a large
proportion of remaining US oil reserves are located here. At the start
of its formation, the incipient
Gulf of MexicoGulf of Mexico basin was restricted
and seawater often evaporated completely to form thick evaporite
deposits of
JurassicJurassic age. These salt deposits formed salt dome diapirs
, and are found in
East TexasEast Texas along the Gulf coast.

East TexasEast Texas outcrops consist of
CretaceousCretaceous and
Paleogene sediments
which contain important deposits of
EoceneEocene lignite . The Mississippian
and Pennsylvanian sediments in the north; Permian sediments in the
west; and
CretaceousCretaceous sediments in the east, along the Gulf coast and
out on the
TexasTexas continental shelf contain oil.
Oligocene volcanic
rocks are found in far west
TexasTexas in the Big Bend area. A blanket of
MioceneMiocene sediments known as the Ogallala formation in the western high
plains region is an important aquifer . Located far from an active
plate tectonic boundary,
TexasTexas has no volcanoes and few earthquakes.

A wide range of animals and insects live in Texas. It is the home to
65 species of mammals, 213 species of reptiles and amphibians, and the
greatest diversity of bird life in the United States—590 native
species in all. At least 12 species have been introduced and now
reproduce freely in Texas.

During the spring
TexasTexas wildflowers such as the state flower, the
bluebonnet , line highways throughout Texas. During the Johnson
Administration the first lady,
Lady Bird Johnson , worked to draw
attention to
TexasTexas wildflowers.

The large size of
TexasTexas and its location at the intersection of
multiple climate zones gives the state highly variable weather. The
Panhandle of the state has colder winters than North Texas, while the
Gulf Coast has mild winters.
TexasTexas has wide variations in
precipitation patterns. El Paso, on the western end of the state,
averages 8.7 inches (220 mm) of annual rainfall, while parts of
southeast
TexasTexas average as much as 64 inches (1,600 mm) per year.
DallasDallas in the North Central region averages a more moderate 37 inches
(940 mm) per year.

Snow falls multiple times each winter in the
Panhandle and
mountainous areas of West Texas, once or twice a year in North Texas,
and once every few years in Central and East Texas. Snow falls south
of
San AntonioSan Antonio or on the coast in rare circumstances only. Of note is
the
2004 Christmas Eve snowstorm , when 6 inches (150 mm) of snow fell
as far south as Kingsville , where the average high temperature in
December is 65 °F.

Maximum temperatures in the summer months average from the 80s °F
(26 °C) in the mountains of
West Texas and on
Galveston Island to
around 100 °F (38 °C) in the
Rio GrandeRio Grande Valley , but most areas of
TexasTexas see consistent summer high temperatures in the 90 °F (32 °C)
range.

Night-time summer temperatures range from the upper 50s °F (14 °C)
in the
West Texas mountains to 80 °F (27 °C) in Galveston.

The table below consists of averages for August (generally the
warmest month) and January (generally the coldest) in selected cities
in various regions of the state.
El Paso and Amarillo are exceptions
with July and December respectively being the warmest and coldest
months respectively, but with August and January only being narrowly
different.

Average daily maximum and minimum temperatures for selected cities in
TexasTexas
LOCATION
AUGUST (°F)
AUGUST (°C)
JANUARY (°F)
JANUARY (°C)

Thunderstorms strike
TexasTexas often, especially the eastern and northern
portions of the state.
Tornado AlleyTornado Alley covers the northern section of
Texas. The state experiences the most tornadoes in the United States,
an average of 139 a year. These strike most frequently in North Texas
and the Panhandle. Tornadoes in
TexasTexas generally occur in the months
of April, May, and June.

Some of the most destructive hurricanes in U.S. history have impacted
Texas. A hurricane in 1875 killed about 400 people in Indianola ,
followed by another hurricane in 1886 that destroyed the town. These
events allowed Galveston to take over as the chief port city. The 1900
Galveston hurricane subsequently devastated that city, killing about
8,000 people or possibly as many as 12,000. This makes it the
deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history. In 2017, Hurricane Harvey
made landfall in Rockport as a
CategoryCategory 4 Hurricane, causing
significant damage there. The storm stalled over land for a very long
time, allowing it to drop unprecedented amounts of rain over the
Greater
HoustonHouston area and surrounding counties. The result was
widespread and catastrophic flooding that inundated hundreds of
thousands of homes. Harvey ultimately became the costliest hurricane
worldwide, causing an estimated $198.6 billion in damage, surpassing
the cost of
Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina .

TexasTexas emits the most greenhouse gases in the U.S. The state emits
nearly 1.5 trillion pounds (680 billion kg) of carbon dioxide
annually. As an independent nation,
TexasTexas would rank as the world's
seventh-largest producer of greenhouse gases. Causes of the state's
vast greenhouse gas emissions include the state's large number of coal
power plants and the state's refining and manufacturing industries.
In 2010, there were 2,553 "emission events" which poured 44.6 million
pounds of contaminants into the
TexasTexas sky.

TexasTexas lies between two major cultural spheres of Pre-Columbian North
America : the Southwestern and the Plains areas.
Archaeologists have
found that three major indigenous cultures lived in this territory,
and reached their developmental peak before the first European
contact. These were:

Whether a Native American tribe was friendly or warlike was critical
to the fates of European explorers and settlers in that land.
Friendly tribes taught newcomers how to grow indigenous crops, prepare
foods, and hunt wild game . Warlike tribes made life difficult and
dangerous for Europeans through their attacks and resistance to the
newcomers.

The first historical document related to
TexasTexas was a map of the Gulf
Coast , created in 1519 by Spanish explorer Alonso Álvarez de Pineda
. Nine years later, shipwrecked Spanish explorer Álvar Núñez
Cabeza de Vaca and his cohort became the first Europeans in what is
now Texas. Cabeza de Vaca reported that in 1528, when the Spanish
landed in the area, "half the natives died from a disease of the
bowels and blamed us." Cabeza de Vaca also made observations about
the way of life of the Ignaces Natives of Texas:

They went about with a firebrand, setting fire to the plains and
timber so as to drive off the mosquitos, and also to get lizards and
similar things which they eat, to come out of the soil. In the same
manner they kill deer, encircling them with fires, and they do it also
to deprive the animals of pasture, compelling them to go for food
where the Indians want.

Two kinds of people travel around these plains with the cows; one is
called Querechos and the others Teyas ; they are very well built, and
painted, and are enemies of each other. They have no other settlement
or location than comes from traveling around with the cows. They kill
all of these they wish, and tan the hides, with which they clothe
themselves and make their tents, and they eat the flesh, sometimes
even raw, and they also even drink the blood when thirsty. The tents
they make are like field tents, and they set them up over some poles
they have made for this purpose, which come together and are tied at
the top, and when they go from one place to another they carry them on
some dogs they have, of which they have many, and they load them with
the tents and poles and other things, for the country is so level, as
I said, that they can make use of these, because they carry the poles
dragging along on the ground. The sun is what they worship most.

European powers ignored the area until accidentally settling there in
1685. Miscalculations by
René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle resulted in
his establishing the colony of Fort Saint Louis at Matagorda Bay
rather than along the
Mississippi RiverMississippi River . The colony lasted only four
years before succumbing to harsh conditions and hostile natives.
A 1718 map of
TexasTexas by Guillaume de L\'Isle . Approximate state area
highlighted, northern areas indefinite.

In 1690 Spanish authorities, concerned that France posed competitive
threat, constructed several missions in
East TexasEast Texas . After Native
American resistance, the Spanish missionaries returned to Mexico.
When France began settling
LouisianaLouisiana , mostly in the southern part of
the state, in 1716 Spanish authorities responded by founding a new
series of missions in East Texas. Two years later, they created San
Antonio as the first Spanish civilian settlement in the area.
Nicolas de La Fora's 1771 map of the northern frontier of New Spain
clearly shows the Provincia de los Tejas.

Hostile native tribes and distance from nearby Spanish colonies
discouraged settlers from moving to the area. It was one of New
Spain's least populated provinces. In 1749, the Spanish peace treaty
with the Lipan
ApacheApache angered many tribes, including the
ComancheComanche ,
Tonkawa , and
Hasinai . The
ComancheComanche signed a treaty with Spain in
1785 and later helped to defeat the Lipan
ApacheApache and Karankawa
tribes. With more numerous missions being established, priests led a
peaceful conversion of most tribes. By the end of the 18th century
only a few nomadic tribes had not converted to Christianity.
Stephen F. Austin was the first American empresario given permission
to operate a colony within
Mexican Texas .
MexicoMexico in 1824.
Coahuila y Tejas is the northeastern-most state.

When the
United StatesUnited States purchased
LouisianaLouisiana from France in 1803,
American authorities insisted that the agreement also included Texas.
The boundary between New Spain and the
United StatesUnited States was finally set
at the Sabine River in 1819, at what is now the border between Texas
and Louisiana. Eager for new land, many
United StatesUnited States settlers
refused to recognize the agreement. Several filibusters raised armies
to invade the area west of the Sabine River. In 1821, the Mexican War
of Independence included the
TexasTexas territory, which became part of
Mexico. Due to its low population,
MexicoMexico made the area part of the
state of
Coahuila y Tejas .

Hoping that more settlers would reduce the near-constant Comanche
raids,
Mexican Texas liberalized its immigration policies to permit
immigrants from outside
MexicoMexico and Spain. Under the Mexican
immigration system, large swathes of land were allotted to empresarios
, who recruited settlers from the United States, Europe, and the
Mexican interior. The first grant, to
Moses Austin , was passed to his
son
Stephen F. Austin after his death.

Austin's settlers, the
Old Three Hundred , made places along the
Brazos River in 1822. Twenty-three other empresarios brought settlers
to the state, the majority of whom were from the United States. The
population of
TexasTexas grew rapidly. In 1825,
TexasTexas had about 3,500
people, with most of Mexican descent. By 1834, the population had
grown to about 37,800 people, with only 7,800 of Mexican descent.
Most of these early settlers who arrived with
AustinAustin and soon after
were persons less than fortunate in life, as
TexasTexas was devoid of the
comforts found elsewhere in
MexicoMexico and the
United StatesUnited States during that
time period. Early
TexasTexas settler David B. Edwards described his fellow
Texans as being "banished from the pleasures of life."

Many immigrants openly flouted Mexican law, especially the
prohibition against slavery . Combined with United States' attempts to
purchase Texas, Mexican authorities decided in 1830 to prohibit
continued immigration from the United States. New laws also called
for the enforcement of customs duties angering both native Mexican
citizens (
Tejanos ) and recent immigrants.

The
Anahuac Disturbances in 1832 were the first open revolt against
Mexican rule and they coincided with a revolt in
MexicoMexico against the
nation's president.
Texians sided with the federalists against the
current government and drove all Mexican soldiers out of East Texas.
They took advantage of the lack of oversight to agitate for more
political freedom.
Texians met at the
Convention of 1832 to discuss
requesting independent statehood, among other issues. The following
year,
Texians reiterated their demands at the
Convention of 1833 .

Within Mexico, tensions continued between federalists and
centralists. In early 1835, wary
Texians formed Committees of
Correspondence and Safety. The unrest erupted into armed conflict in
late 1835 at the
Battle of Gonzales . This launched the Texas
Revolution , and over the next two months, the
Texians defeated all
Mexican troops in the region.
Texians elected delegates to the
Consultation , which created a provisional government. The
provisional government soon collapsed from infighting, and
TexasTexas was
without clear governance for the first two months of 1836.
William Henry Huddle: Surrender of Santa Anna (1886;
TexasTexas State
Capitol ,
AustinAustin )

During this time of political turmoil, Mexican President Antonio
López de Santa Anna personally led an army to end the revolt. The
Mexican expedition was initially successful. General José de Urrea
defeated all the
Texian resistance along the coast culminating in the
Goliad massacre . Santa Anna's forces, after a thirteen-day siege ,
overwhelmed
Texian defenders at the
Battle of the Alamo . News of the
defeats sparked panic amongst
TexasTexas settlers. The present-day
outlines of the U.S. states superimposed on the boundaries of the
1836–1845
Republic of TexasRepublic of Texas

The newly elected
Texian delegates to the
Convention of 1836 quickly
signed a Declaration of Independence on March 2, forming the Republic
of
TexasTexas . After electing interim officers, the Convention disbanded.
The new government joined the other settlers in
TexasTexas in the Runaway
Scrape , fleeing from the approaching Mexican army. After several
weeks of retreat, the
Texian Army commanded by Sam
HoustonHouston attacked
and defeated Santa Anna's forces at the
Battle of San Jacinto . Santa
Anna was captured and forced to sign the
Treaties of Velasco , ending
the war.

While
TexasTexas had won its independence, political battles raged between
two factions of the new Republic. The nationalist faction, led by
Mirabeau B. Lamar , advocated the continued independence of Texas, the
expulsion of the Native Americans, and the expansion of the Republic
to the Pacific Ocean. Their opponents, led by Sam Houston, advocated
the annexation of
TexasTexas to the
United StatesUnited States and peaceful co-existence
with Native Americans. The conflict between the factions was typified
by an incident known as the
Texas Archive War .

MexicoMexico launched two small expeditions into
TexasTexas in 1842. The town of
San AntonioSan Antonio was captured twice and Texans were defeated in battle in
the
Dawson massacre . Despite these successes,
MexicoMexico did not keep an
occupying force in Texas, and the republic survived. The republic's
inability to defend itself added momentum to Texas's eventual
annexation into the United States.

As early as 1837, the Republic made several attempts to negotiate
annexation with the United States. Opposition within the republic
from the nationalist faction, along with strong abolitionist
opposition within the United States, slowed Texas's admission into the
Union.
TexasTexas was finally annexed when the expansionist James K. Polk
won the election of 1844 . On December 29, 1845, Congress admitted
TexasTexas to the U.S. as a constituent state of the Union.

The population of the new state was quite small at first and there
was a strong mix between the English-speaking American settlers that
dominated in the eastern/northeastern portions of the state and the
Spanish-speaking former Mexicans that dominated in the southern and
western portions of the state. Statehood brought many new settlers.
Because of the long Spanish presence in
MexicoMexico and various failed
colonization efforts by the Spanish and Mexicans in northern Mexico,
there were large herds of Longhorn cattle that roamed the state. Hardy
by nature but also suitable for slaughtering and consumption, they
represented an economic opportunity that many entrepreneurs seized
upon, thus creating the cowboy culture for which
TexasTexas is famous.
While in the early days of the republic cattle and bison were
slaughtered for their hides, soon a beef industry was established with
cattle being shipped all over the U.S. and the Caribbean (within a few
decades, beef had become a staple of the American diet).

After a series of
United StatesUnited States victories, the Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo ended the two-year war. In return, for US$18,250,000, Mexico
gave the U.S. undisputed control of Texas, ceded the Mexican Cession
in 1848, most of which today is called the American Southwest, and
Texas's borders were established at the Rio Grande.

Not all Texans favored secession initially, although many of the same
would later support the Southern cause. Texas's most notable Unionist
was the state Governor, Sam
HoustonHouston . Not wanting to aggravate the
situation,
HoustonHouston refused two offers from President Lincoln for Union
troops to keep him in office. After refusing to swear an oath of
allegiance to the Confederacy,
HoustonHouston was deposed as governor.

While far from the major battlefields of the
American Civil WarAmerican Civil War ,
TexasTexas contributed large numbers of men and equipment to the rest of
the Confederacy. Union troops briefly occupied the state's primary
port, Galveston. Texas's border with
MexicoMexico was known as the "backdoor
of the Confederacy" because trade occurred at the border, bypassing
the Union blockade. The Confederacy repulsed all Union attempts to
shut down this route, but Texas's role as a supply state was
marginalized in mid-1863 after the Union capture of the Mississippi
River . The final battle of the Civil War was fought near Brownsville,
TexasTexas at Palmito Ranch with a Confederate victory.

TexasTexas descended into anarchy for two months between the surrender of
the
Army of Northern VirginiaArmy of Northern Virginia and the assumption of authority by Union
General
Gordon Granger . Violence marked the early months of
Reconstruction .
Juneteenth commemorates the announcement of the
Emancipation ProclamationEmancipation Proclamation in Galveston by General Gordon Granger,
almost two and a half years after the original announcement.
President Johnson, in 1866, declared the civilian government restored
in Texas. Despite not meeting reconstruction requirements, Congress
resumed allowing elected
TexasTexas representatives into the federal
government in 1870. Social volatility continued as the state struggled
with agricultural depression and labor issues.

Like most of the South, the
TexasTexas economy was devastated by the War.
However, since the state had not been as dependent on slaves as other
parts of the South it was able to recover more quickly. The culture in
TexasTexas during the later 19th century exhibited many facets of a
frontier territory. The state became notorious as a haven for people
from other parts of the country who wanted to escape debt, criminal
prosecution, or other problems. Indeed, "Gone to Texas" was a common
expression for those fleeing the law in other states. Nevertheless,
the state also attracted many businessmen and other settlers with more
legitimate interests as well.

The cattle industry continued to thrive though it gradually became
less profitable. Cotton and lumber became major industries creating
new economic booms in various regions of the state. Railroad networks
grew rapidly as did the port at Galveston as commerce between Texas
and the rest of the U.S. (and the rest of the world) expanded. As with
some other states before, the lumber industry quickly decimated the
forests of
TexasTexas such that by the early 20th century the major of the
forest population in
TexasTexas was gone (later conservation efforts
restored some of it but never to the level it once was).

EARLIER 20TH CENTURY

Spindletop, the first major oil gusher

In 1900,
TexasTexas suffered the deadliest natural disaster in U.S.
history during the Galveston hurricane . On January 10, 1901, the
first major oil well in Texas,
Spindletop , was found south of
Beaumont . Other fields were later discovered nearby in
East TexasEast Texas ,
West Texas , and under the
Gulf of MexicoGulf of Mexico . The resulting "oil boom "
transformed Texas. Oil production eventually averaged three million
barrels per day at its peak in 1972.

In 1901, the Democratic-dominated state legislature passed a bill
requiring payment of a poll tax for voting, which effectively
disenfranchised most blacks, and many poor whites and
Latinos . In
addition, the legislature established white primaries , ensuring that
minorities were excluded from the formal political process. The number
of voters dropped dramatically, and the Democrats crushed competition
from the Republican and Populist parties. The Socialist Party became
the second-largest party in
TexasTexas after 1912, coinciding with a large
socialist upsurge in the
United StatesUnited States during fierce battles in the
labor movement and the popularity of national heroes like Eugene V.
Debs . The Socialists' popularity soon waned after their vilification
by the
United StatesUnited States government for their opposition to US involvement
in
World War IWorld War I .

World War IIWorld War II had a dramatic impact on Texas, as federal money poured
in to build military bases, munitions factories, POW detention camps
and Army hospitals; 750,000 young men left for service; the cities
exploded with new industry; the colleges took on new roles; and
hundreds of thousands of poor farmers left the fields for much better
paying war jobs, never to return to agriculture.
TexasTexas manufactured
3.1 percent of total
United StatesUnited States military armaments produced during
World War II, ranking eleventh among the 48 states.

TexasTexas modernized and expanded its system of higher education through
the 1960s. The state created a comprehensive plan for higher
education, funded in large part by oil revenues, and a central state
apparatus designed to manage state institutions more efficiently.
These changes helped
TexasTexas universities receive federal research
funds.

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in
Dallas.

ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CHANGE (1950–PRESENT)

Beginning around the mid-20th century,
TexasTexas began to transform from
a rural and agricultural state to one that was urban and
industrialized. The state's population grew quickly during this
period, with large levels of migration from outside the state. As a
part of the
Sun BeltTexasTexas experienced strong economic growth,
particularly during the 1970s and early 1980s. Texas's economy
diversified, lessening its reliance on the petroleum industry . By
1990,
Hispanics overtook blacks to become the largest minority group
in the state.

During the late 20th century, the Republican Party replaced the
Democratic Party as the dominant party in the state, as the latter
became more politically liberal and as demographic changes favored the
former.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

The current
Texas Constitution was adopted in 1876. Like many states
, it explicitly provides for a separation of powers. The state's Bill
of Rights is much larger than its federal counterpart , and has
provisions unique to Texas.

TexasTexas has a plural executive branch system limiting the power of the
governor, which is a weak executive compared to some other states.
Except for the Secretary of State , voters elect executive officers
independently; thus candidates are directly answerable to the public,
not the governor. This election system has led to some executive
branches split between parties and reduced the ability of the governor
to carry out a program. When Republican President George W. Bush
served as Texas's governor, the state had a Democratic lieutenant
governor,
Bob Bullock . The executive branch positions consist of the
Governor , Lieutenant Governor , Comptroller of Public Accounts, Land
Commissioner, Attorney General, Agriculture Commissioner, the
three-member
Texas Railroad Commission , the State Board of Education,
and the Secretary of State.

The bicameral
TexasTexasLegislatureLegislature consists of the House of
Representatives , with 150 members, and a Senate , with 31 members.
The Speaker of the House leads the House, and the lieutenant governor,
the Senate. The
LegislatureLegislature meets in regular session biennially for
just over 100 days, but the governor can call for special sessions as
often as desired (notably, the
LegislatureLegislature cannot call itself into
session). The state's fiscal year spans from the previous calendar
year's September 1 to the current year's August 31. Thus, the FY 2015
dates from September 1, 2014 through August 31, 2015.

The judiciary of
TexasTexas is one of the most complex in the United
States, with many layers and overlapping jurisdictions.
TexasTexas has two
courts of last resort: the
Texas Supreme Court , for civil cases, and
the
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals . Except for some municipal
benches, partisan elections select judges at all levels of the
judiciary; the governor fills vacancies by appointment.
TexasTexas is
notable for its use of capital punishment, having led the country in
executions since capital punishment was reinstated in the Gregg v.
Georgia case (see
Capital punishment in Texas ).

The
Texas Ranger Division of the
Texas Department of Public Safety is
a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction . Over the years,
the
TexasTexas Rangers have investigated crimes ranging from murder to
political corruption. They have acted as riot police and as
detectives, protected the
TexasTexas governor, tracked down fugitives, and
functioned as a paramilitary force both for the republic and the
state. The
TexasTexas Rangers were unofficially created by Stephen F.
AustinAustin in 1823 and formally constituted in 1835. The Rangers were
integral to several important events of
TexasTexas history and some of the
best-known criminal cases in the history of the Old West .

The
TexasTexas constitution defines the responsibilities of county
governments, which serve as agents of the state. What are called
commissioners court and court judges are elected to serve as the
administrative arm. Most cities in the state, those over 5,000 in
population, have home-rule governments. The vast majority of these
have charters for council-manager forms of government, by which voters
elect council members, who hire a professional city manager as
operating officer.

In the 1870s, white Democrats wrested power back in the state
legislature from the biracial coalition at the end of Reconstruction.
In the early 20th century, the legislature passed bills to impose poll
taxes , followed by white primaries ; these measures effectively
disfranchised most blacks, poor whites and Mexican Americans. In the
1890s, 100,000 blacks voted in the state; by 1906, only 5,000 could
vote. As a result, the Democratic Party dominated
TexasTexas politics from
the turn of the century, imposing racial segregation and white
supremacy. It held power until after passage in the mid-1960s of
national civil rights legislation enforcing constitutional rights of
all citizens.

Although
TexasTexas was essentially a one-party state during this time and
the Democratic primary was viewed as "the real election," the
Democratic Party had conservative and liberal factions, which became
more pronounced after the
New Deal . Additionally, several factions
of the party briefly split during the 1930s and 1940s.

The state's conservative white voters began to support Republican
presidential candidates by the mid-20th century. After this period,
they supported Republicans for local and state offices as well, and
most whites became Republican Party members. The party also attracted
some minorities, but many have continued to vote for Democratic
candidates. The shift to the Republican Party is much-attributed to
the fact that the Democratic Party became increasingly liberal during
the 20th century, and thus increasingly out-of-touch with the average
TexasTexas voter. As
TexasTexas was always a conservative state, voters
switched to the GOP, which now more closely reflected their beliefs.
Commentators have also attributed the shift to Republican political
consultant
Karl Rove , who managed numerous political campaigns in
TexasTexas in the 1980s and 1990s. Other stated reasons included
court-ordered redistricting and the demographic shift in relation to
the
Sun Belt that favored the Republican Party and conservatism.

The
2003 Texas redistricting of Congressional districts led by
Republican
Tom DeLay , was called by the New York Times "an extreme
case of partisan gerrymandering ". A group of Democratic legislators,
the "
Texas Eleven ", fled the state in a quorum -busting effort to
prevent the legislature from acting, but was unsuccessful. The state
had already redistricted following the 2000 census. Despite these
efforts, the legislature passed a map heavily in favor of Republicans,
based on 2000 data and ignoring the estimated nearly one million new
residents in the state since that date. Career attorneys and analysts
at the Department of Justice objected to the plan as diluting the
votes of
African AmericanAfrican American and Hispanic voters, but political
appointees overrode them and approved it. Legal challenges to the
redistricting reached the national Supreme Court in the case League of
United Latin American Citizens v. Perry (2006), but the court ruled in
favor of the state (and Republicans).

In the 2014
TexasTexas elections , the
Tea Party movement made large
gains, with numerous Tea Party favorites being elected into office,
including Dan Patrick as lieutenant governor,
Ken Paxton as attorney
general, in addition to numerous other candidates including
conservative Republican
Greg Abbott as governor.

TexasTexas voters lean toward fiscal conservatism , while enjoying the
benefits of huge federal investment in the state in military and other
facilities achieved by the power of the Solid South in the 20th
century. They also tend to have socially conservative values.

Since 1980, most
TexasTexas voters have supported Republican presidential
candidates. In 2000 and 2004, Republican
George W. BushGeorge W. Bush won
TexasTexas with
60.1 percent of the vote, partly due to his "favorite son" status as a
former governor of the state.
John McCainJohn McCain won the state in 2008 , but
with a smaller margin of victory compared to Bush at 55 percent of the
vote. Austin, Dallas, Houston, and
San AntonioSan Antonio consistently lean
Democratic in both local and statewide elections.

Residents of counties along the
Rio GrandeRio Grande closer to the
Mexico-
United StatesUnited States border , where there are many Latino residents,
generally vote for Democratic Party candidates, while most other rural
and suburban areas of
TexasTexas have shifted to voting for Republican
Party candidates.

As of the general elections of 2014 , a large majority of the members
of Texas's U.S. House delegation are Republican , along with both U.S.
Senators . In the 114th
United StatesUnited States Congress , of the 36
Congressional districts in
TexasTexas , 25 are held by Republicans and 11
by Democrats. Texas's Senators are
John CornynJohn Cornyn and
Ted Cruz . Since
1994, Texans have not elected a Democrat to a statewide office. The
state's Democratic voters are made up primarily by liberal and
minority groups in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, Beaumont, and
El Paso, as well as minority voters in
East TexasEast Texas and South Texas.

TexasTexas has 254 counties — the most nationwide. Each county runs on
Commissioners\' Court system consisting of four elected commissioners
(one from each of four precincts in the county, roughly divided
according to population) and a county judge elected at large from the
entire county. County government runs similar to a "weak"
mayor-council system; the county judge has no veto authority, but
votes along with the other commissioners.

Although
TexasTexas permits cities and counties to enter "interlocal
agreements" to share services, the state does not allow consolidated
city-county governments, nor does it have metropolitan governments .
Counties are not granted home rule status; their powers are strictly
defined by state law. The state does not have townships— areas
within a county are either incorporated or unincorporated.
Incorporated areas are part of a municipality. The county provides
limited services to unincorporated areas and to some smaller
incorporated areas. Municipalities are classified either "general law"
cities or "home rule". A municipality may elect home rule status once
it exceeds 5,000 population with voter approval.

TexasTexas also permits the creation of "special districts", which provide
limited services. The most common is the school district , but can
also include hospital districts, community college districts, and
utility districts (one utility district located near
AustinAustin was the
plaintiff in a landmark Supreme Court case involving the Voting Rights
Act ).

Municipal, school district, and special district elections are
nonpartisan , though the party affiliation of a candidate may be
well-known. County and state elections are partisan.

CRIMINAL LAW

TexasTexas has a reputation of very harsh criminal punishment for criminal
offenses. It is one of the 32 states that practice capital punishment
, and since the
US Supreme Court allowed capital punishment to resume
in 1976, 40% of all US executions have taken place in Texas. As of
2008,
TexasTexas had the 4th highest incarceration rate in the US. Texas
also has strong self defense laws, allowing citizens to use lethal
force to defend themselves, their families, or their property.

As of 2014,
TexasTexas had a gross state product (GSP) of $1.648 trillion,
the second-highest in the U.S. Its GSP is greater than the GDPs of
Australia and South Korea, which are the world's 12th- and
13th-largest economies, respectively. Texas' economy is the
fourth-largest of any country subdivision globally, behind England (as
part of the UK), California, and
Tokyo Prefecture . Its Per Capita
personal income in 2009 was $36,484, ranking 29th in the nation.
A geomap depicting the income, by county, in
TexasTexas as of 2014

Texas's large population, abundance of natural resources, thriving
cities and leading centers of higher education have contributed to a
large and diverse economy. Since oil was discovered, the state's
economy has reflected the state of the petroleum industry. In recent
times, urban centers of the state have increased in size, containing
two-thirds of the population in 2005. The state's economic growth has
led to urban sprawl and its associated symptoms.

In 2010, there were 346,000 millionaires in Texas, constituting the
second-largest population of millionaires in the nation.

TAXATION

TexasTexas has a "low taxes, low services" reputation. According to the
Tax Foundation , Texans' state and local tax burdens rank among the
lowest in the nation, 7th lowest nationally; state and local taxes
cost $3,580 per capita, or 8.4 percent of resident incomes.
TexasTexas is
one of seven states that lack a state income tax .

Instead, the state collects revenue from property taxes (though these
are collected at the county, city, and school district level; Texas
has a state constitutional prohibition against a state property tax)
and sales taxes . The state sales tax rate is 6.25 percent, but
local taxing jurisdictions (cities, counties, special purpose
districts, and transit authorities) may also impose sales and use tax
up to 2 percent for a total maximum combined rate of 8.25 percent.

TexasTexas is a "tax donor state"; in 2005, for every dollar Texans paid
to the federal government in federal income taxes , the state got back
about $0.94 in benefits. To attract business,
TexasTexas has incentive
programs worth $19 billion per year (2012); more than any other US
state.

TexasTexas has the most farms and the highest acreage in the United
States. The state is ranked #1 for revenue generated from total
livestock and livestock products. It is ranked #2 for total
agricultural revenue, behind California. At $7.4 billion or 56.7
percent of Texas' annual agricultural cash receipts, beef cattle
production represents the largest single segment of
TexasTexas agriculture.
This is followed by cotton at $1.9 billion (14.6 percent),
greenhouse/nursery at $1.5 billion (11.4 percent), broilers at $1.3
billion (10 percent), and dairy products at $947 million (7.3
percent).

TexasTexas leads the nation in the production of cattle, horses, sheep,
goats, wool, mohair and hay. The state also leads the nation in
production of cotton which is the number one crop grown in the state
in terms of value. The state grows significant amounts of cereal
crops and produce.
TexasTexas has a large commercial fishing industry.
With mineral resources,
TexasTexas leads in creating cement, crushed stone,
lime, salt, sand and gravel.

TexasTexas throughout the 21st century has been hammered by drought . This
has cost the state billions of dollars in livestock and crops.

Ever since the discovery of oil at
Spindletop , energy has been a
dominant force politically and economically within the state. If
TexasTexas were its own country it would be the sixth largest oil producer
in the world.

The
Railroad Commission of Texas , contrary to its name, regulates
the state's oil and gas industry , gas utilities, pipeline safety,
safety in the liquefied petroleum gas industry, and surface coal and
uranium mining. Until the 1970s, the commission controlled the price
of petroleum because of its ability to regulate Texas's oil reserves.
The founders of the Organization of
PetroleumPetroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC) used the
TexasTexas agency as one of their models for petroleum
price control.

Unlike the rest of the nation, most of
TexasTexas is on its own
alternating current power grid , the
Texas Interconnection .
TexasTexas has
a deregulated electric service.
TexasTexas leads the nation in total net
electricity production, generating 437,236 MWh in 2014, 89% more MWh
than Florida, which ranked second. As an independent nation, Texas
would rank as the world's eleventh-largest producer of electricity ,
after South Korea, and ahead of the United Kingdom.

The state is a leader in renewable energy commercialization ; it
produces the most wind power in the nation. In 2014, 10.6% of the
electricity consumed in
TexasTexas came from wind turbines . The Roscoe
Wind Farm in
Roscoe, Texas , is one of the world's largest wind farms
with a 781.5 megawatt (MW) capacity. The Energy Information
Administration states that the state's large agriculture and forestry
industries could give
TexasTexas an enormous amount biomass for use in
biofuels. The state also has the highest solar power potential for
development in the nation.

As of 2004, the state had 3.5 million foreign-born residents (15.6
percent of the state population), of which an estimated 1.2 million
are illegal .
TexasTexas from 2000 to 2006 had the fastest growing illegal
immigration rate in the nation. In 2010, illegal immigrants
constituted an estimated 6.0 percent of the population. This was the
fifth highest percentage of any state in the country. In 2015, the
population of illegal immigrants living in
TexasTexas was around 800,000.

In 2009, the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimated that 1.68
million illegal immigrants lived in Texas. While the number of
illegal immigrants living in the U.S. has declined since 2009, in
TexasTexas there was no change in population between 2009 and 2014.

Texas's population density is 90.5 people per square mile (34.9/km2)
which is slightly higher than the average population density of the
U.S. as a whole, at 80.6 people per square mile (31.1/km2). In
contrast, while
TexasTexas and France are similarly sized geographically,
the European country has a population density of 301.8 people per
square mile (116.5/km2).

Two-thirds of all Texans live in a major metropolitan area such as
Houston. The Dallas-
Fort Worth Metropolitan Area is the largest in
Texas. While
HoustonHouston is the largest city in
TexasTexas and the fourth
largest city in the United States, the Dallas-
Fort Worth metropolitan
area is larger than that of Houston.

ETHNICITY

As of the 2015
TexasTexas Population Estimate Program, the population of
the state was 27,469,114 non-Hispanic whites 11,505,371 (41.9%); Black
Americans 3,171,043 (11.5%); other races 1,793,580 (6.5%); and
Hispanics and
Latinos (of any race) 10,999,120 (40.0%).

German , Irish , and English Americans are the three largest European
ancestry groups in Texas. German Americans make up 11.3 percent of the
population, and number over 2.7 million members. Irish Americans make
up 8.2 percent of the population, and number over 1.9 million members.
There are roughly 600,000 French Americans and 472,000 Italian
Americans residing in Texas; these two ethnic groups make up 2.5
percent and 2.0 percent of the population respectively. In the 1980
United StatesUnited States Census the largest ancestry group reported in
TexasTexas was
English with 3,083,323 Texans citing that they were of English or
mostly English ancestry making them 27 percent of the state at the
time. Their ancestry primarily goes back to the original thirteen
colonies and thus many of them today identify as "American" in
ancestry, though they are of predominately British stock. There are
nearly 200,000 Czech-Americans living in Texas, the largest number of
any state.

African Americans are the largest racial minority in Texas. Their
proportion of population has declined since the early 20th century,
after many left the state in the Great Migration . Blacks of both
Hispanic and non-Hispanic origin make up 11.5 percent of the
population; blacks of non-Hispanic origin form 11.3 percent of the
populace. African Americans of both Hispanic and non-Hispanic origin
number at roughly 2.7 million individuals.

Native Americans are a smaller minority in the state. Native
Americans make up 0.5 percent of Texas' population, and number over
118,000 individuals. Native Americans of non-Hispanic origin make up
0.3 percent of the population, and number over 75,000 individuals.
CherokeeCherokee made up 0.1 percent of the population, and numbered over
19,400 members. In contrast, only 583 identified as
ChippewaChippewa . El
Paso , founded by Spanish settlers in 1659

Asian Americans are a sizable minority group in Texas. Americans of
Asian descent form 3.8 percent of the population, with those of
non-Hispanic descent making up 3.7 percent of the populace. They total
more than 808,000 individuals. Non-Hispanic Asians number over
795,000. Just over 200,000 Indian Americans make
TexasTexas their home.
TexasTexas is also home to over 187,000 Vietnamese and 136,000 Chinese . In
addition to 92,000 Filipinos and 62,000 Koreans , there are 18,000
Japanese Americans living in the state. Lastly, over 111,000 people
are of other Asian ancestry groups, such as Cambodian , Thai , and
Hmong . Sugar Land , a city within the
HoustonHouston metropolitan area, and
Plano , located within the
DallasDallas metropolitan area, both have high
concentrations of ethnic Chinese and Korean residents. The
HoustonHouston and
DallasDallas areas, and to a lesser extent, the
AustinAustin metropolitan area,
all contain substantial Vietnamese communities.

Americans with origins from the Pacific are the smallest minority in
Texas. According to the survey, only 18,000 Texans are Pacific
Islanders; 16,400 are of non-Hispanic descent. There are roughly 5,400
Native Hawaiians , 5,300 Guamanians, and 6,400 people from other
groups. Samoan Americans were scant; only 2,920 people were from this
group. The city of
Euless , a suburb of
Fort Worth , contains a
sizable population of Tongan Americans , at nearly 900 people, over
one percent of the city's population. Killeen has a sufficient
population of Samoans and Guamanian, and people of Pacific Islander
descent surpass one percent of the city's population.

Multiracial individuals are also a visible minority in Texas. People
identifying as multiracial form 1.9 percent of the population, and
number over 448,000 people. Almost 80,000 Texans claim African and
European heritage, and make up 0.3 percent of the population. People
of European and Native American heritage number over 108,800 (close to
the number of Native Americans), and make up 0.5 percent of the
population. People of European and Asian heritage number over 57,600,
and form just 0.2 percent of the population. People of African and
Native American heritage were even smaller in number (15,300), and
make up just 0.1 percent of the total population. German trek on
its way to New Braunfels

Hispanics and
Latinos are the second-largest group in
TexasTexas after
non-Hispanic European Americans . Over 8.5 million people claim
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity. This group forms over 37 percent of
Texas' population. People of Mexican descent alone number over 7.9
million, and make up 31.6 percent of the population. The vast majority
of the Hispanic/Latino population in the state is of Mexican descent,
the next two largest groups are Salvadorans and Puerto Ricans. There
are over 222,000 Salvadorans and over 130,000 Puerto Ricans in Texas.
Other groups with large numbers in
TexasTexas include Hondurans ,
Guatemalans , Nicaraguans and Cubans , among others. The Hispanics
in
TexasTexas are more likely than in some other states (such as
California) to identify as white; according to the 2010 U.S. Census,
TexasTexas is home to 6,304,207 White
Hispanics and 2,594,206
Hispanics of
"some other race" (usually mestizo ). Welcome to
Praha, Texas ,
"Czech Capital of Texas".

German descendants inhabit much of central and southeast-central
Texas. Over one-third of
TexasTexas residents are of Hispanic origin; while
many have recently arrived, some
Tejanos have ancestors with
multi-generational ties to 18th century Texas. In addition to the
descendants of the state's former slave population, many African
American college graduates have come to the state for work recently in
the
New Great MigrationNew Great Migration . Recently, the Asian population in
TexasTexas has
grown—primarily in
HoustonHouston and Dallas. Other communities with a
significantly growing
Asian AmericanAsian American population is in Austin, Corpus
Christi, and the Sharyland area next
McAllen, Texas . Three federally
recognized Native American tribes reside in Texas: the
Alabama-
Coushatta Tribe, the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe, and the
Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo .

In 2010, 49 percent of all births were Hispanics; 35 percent were
non-Hispanic whites; 11.5 percent were non-Hispanic blacks, and 4.3
percent were Asians/Pacific Islanders. Based on Census Bureau data
released on February 2011, for the first time in recent history,
Texas' white population is below 50 percent (45 percent) and Hispanics
grew to 38 percent. Between 2000 and 2010, the total population growth
by 20.6 percent, but
Hispanics growth by 65 percent, whereas
non-Hispanic whites only grew by 4.2 percent.
TexasTexas has the fifth
highest rate of teenage births in the nation and a plurality of these
are to Hispanics.

The state has three cities with populations exceeding one million:
Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas. These three rank among the 10 most
populous cities of the United States. As of 2010, six
TexasTexas cities had
populations greater than 600,000 people. Austin, Fort Worth, and El
Paso are among the 20 largest U.S. cities .
TexasTexas has four
metropolitan areas with populations greater than a million:
Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington , Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown , San
Antonio–New Braunfels , and Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos . The
Dallas–
Fort Worth and
HoustonHouston metropolitan areas number about 6.3
million and 5.7 million residents, respectively.

Three interstate highways —I-35 to the west (Dallas–
Fort Worth to
San Antonio, with
AustinAustin in between), I-45 to the east (
DallasDallas to
Houston), and I-10 to the south (
San AntonioSan Antonio to Houston) define the
Texas Urban Triangle region. The region of 60,000 square miles
(160,000 km2) contains most of the state's largest cities and
metropolitan areas as well as 17 million people, nearly 75 percent of
Texas's total population.
HoustonHouston and
DallasDallas have been recognized as
beta world cities . These cities are spread out amongst the state.
TexasTexas has 254 counties , which is more than any other state by 95
(Georgia).

In contrast to the cities, unincorporated rural settlements known as
colonias often lack basic infrastructure and are marked by poverty.
The office of the
TexasTexas Attorney General stated, in 2011, that Texas
had about 2,294 colonias and estimates that about 500,000 lived in the
colonias. Hidalgo County , as of 2011, has the largest number of
colonias.
TexasTexas has the largest number of people of all states,
living in colonias.

As of 2010, 65.8% (14,740,304) of
TexasTexas residents age 5 and older
spoke only English at home, while 29.2% (6,543,702) spoke Spanish ,
0.75 percent (168,886) Vietnamese , and Chinese (which includes
CantoneseCantonese and Mandarin ) was spoken by 0.56% (122,921) of the
population over the age of five.

Other languages spoken include German (including
Texas German ) by
0.33% (73,137,) Tagalog with 0.29% (73,137) speakers, and French
(including
Cajun French ) was spoken by 0.25% (55,773) of Texans.
Reportedly,
CherokeeCherokee is the most widely spoken Native American
language in Texas.

In total, 34.2% (7,660,406) of Texas's population aged five and older
spoke a language at home other than English.

RELIGION

The 2014 Pew Religious Landscape Survey showed the religious makeup
of the state was as follows:

Religious affiliation in
TexasTexas (2014)
AFFILIATION
% OF TEXAS POPULATION

Adherents of many other religions reside predominantly in the urban
centers of Texas. In 1990, the Islamic population was about 140,000
with more recent figures putting the current number of Muslims between
350,000 and 400,000. The
JewishJewish population is around 128,000. Around
146,000 adherents of religions such as
HinduismHinduism and
SikhismSikhism live in
Texas. It is the fifth-largest
MuslimMuslim -populated state in the
country.

Historically,
TexasTexas culture comes from a blend of Southern (Dixie) ,
Western (frontier), and Southwestern (Mexican/Anglo fusion)
influences, varying in degrees of such from one intrastate region to
another.
TexasTexas is placed in the Southern
United StatesUnited States by the United
States Census Bureau . A popular food item, the breakfast burrito ,
draws from all three, having a soft flour tortilla wrapped around
bacon and scrambled eggs or other hot, cooked fillings. Adding to
Texas's traditional culture, established in the 18th and 19th
centuries, immigration has made
TexasTexas a melting pot of cultures from
around the world.

TexasTexas has made a strong mark on national and international pop
culture. The state is strongly associated with the image of the cowboy
shown in westerns and in country western music . The state's numerous
oil tycoons are also a popular pop culture topic as seen in the hit TV
series
DallasDallas .

The internationally known slogan "Don\'t Mess with
TexasTexas " began as
an anti-littering advertisement . Since the campaign's inception in
1986, the phrase has become "an identity statement, a declaration of
TexasTexas swagger".

TEXAS SELF-PERCEPTION

"Texas-sized" is an expression that can be used in two ways: to
describe something that is about the size of the
U.S. stateU.S. state of Texas,
or to describe something (usually but not always originating from
Texas) that is large compared to other objects of its type. Texas
was the largest U.S. state, until
AlaskaAlaska became a state in 1959. The
phrase, "everything is bigger in Texas," has been in regular use since
at least 1950; and was used as early as 1913.

HoustonHouston is one of only five American cities with permanent
professional resident companies in all of the major performing arts
disciplines: the
HoustonHouston Grand Opera , the
HoustonHouston Symphony Orchestra
, the
HoustonHouston Ballet , and
The Alley Theatre . Known for the vibrancy
of its visual and performing arts , the
HoustonHouston Theater District —a
17-block area in the heart of Downtown
HoustonHouston — ranks second in the
country in the number of theater seats in a concentrated downtown
area, with 12,948 seats for live performances and 1,480 movie seats.

Founded in 1892, Modern Art Museum of
Fort Worth , also called "The
Modern", is Texas's oldest art museum.
Fort Worth also has the Kimbell
Art Museum , the
Amon Carter Museum , the National Cowgirl Museum and
Hall of Fame , the
Will Rogers Memorial Center , and the Bass
Performance Hall downtown. The Arts District of Downtown
DallasDallas has
arts venues such as the
DallasDallas Museum of Art , the Morton H. Meyerson
Symphony Center , the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House , the
Trammell events like the film, music, and multimedia festival South by
Southwest ; the longest-running concert music program on American
television,
AustinAustin City Limits ; and the
AustinAustin City Limits Music
Festival held in
Zilker Park .

Since 1980,
San AntonioSan Antonio has evolved into "The
Tejano Music Capital Of
The World." The
Tejano Music Awards have provided a forum to create
greater awareness and appreciation for
Tejano music and culture.

The second president of the
Republic of TexasRepublic of Texas ,
Mirabeau B. Lamar ,
is the Father of
TexasTexas Education. During his term, the state set aside
three leagues of land in each county for equipping public schools. An
additional 50 leagues of land set aside for the support of two
universities would later become the basis of the state's Permanent
University Fund . Lamar's actions set the foundation for a Texas-wide
public school system.

Between 2006 and 2007,
TexasTexas spent $7,275 per pupil ranking it below
the national average of $9,389. The pupil/teacher ratio was 14.9,
below the national average of 15.3.
TexasTexas paid instructors $41,744,
below the national average of $46,593. The
TexasTexas Education Agency
(TEA) administers the state's public school systems.
TexasTexas has over
1,000 school districts - all districts except the Stafford Municipal
School District are independent from municipal government and many
cross city boundaries. School districts have the power to tax their
residents and to assert eminent domain over privately owned property.
Due to court-mandated equitable school financing for school districts,
the state has a controversial tax redistribution system called
the"
Robin Hood plan ". This plan transfers property tax revenue from
wealthy school districts to poor ones. The TEA has no authority over
private or home school activities.

Students in
TexasTexas take the State of
TexasTexas Assessments of Academic
Readiness (STAAR) in primary and secondary school. STAAR assess
students' attainment of reading , writing, mathematics , science, and
social studies skills required under
TexasTexas education standards and the
No Child Left Behind ActNo Child Left Behind Act . The test replaced the
TexasTexas Assessment of
Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test in the 2011–2012 school year.

Although unusual in the West, school corporal punishment is not
uncommon in more conservative areas of the state, with 28,569 public
school students paddled at least one time, according to government
data for the 2011–2012 school year. The rate of school corporal
punishment in
TexasTexas is surpassed only by Mississippi, Alabama, and
Arkansas.

The state is home to various private institutions of higher
learning—ranging from liberal arts colleges to a nationally
recognized top-tier research university.
Rice UniversityRice University in Houston
is one of the leading teaching and research universities of the United
States and is ranked the nation's 17th-best overall university by U.S.
News & World Report. Trinity University , a private, primarily
undergraduate liberal arts university in San Antonio, has ranked first
among universities granting primarily bachelor's and select master's
degrees in the Western
United StatesUnited States for 20 consecutive years by U.S.
News. Private universities include
AustinAustin College , Baylor University
,
University of Mary Hardin–BaylorUniversity of Mary Hardin–Baylor , and
Southwestern University .

Notwithstanding the concentration of elite medical centers located in
the state,
The Commonwealth Fund ranks the
TexasTexas healthcare system the
third worst in the nation.
TexasTexas ranks close to last in access to
healthcare, quality of care, avoidable hospital spending, and equity
among various groups. Causes of the state's poor rankings include
politics, a high poverty rate, and the highest rate of illegal
immigration in the nation. In May 2006,
TexasTexas initiated the program
"code red" in response to the report that the state had 25.1 percent
of the population without health insurance, the largest proportion in
the nation.

The Trust for America\'s Health ranked
TexasTexas 15th highest in adult
obesity , with 27.2 percent of the state's population measured as
obese. The 2008 Men\'s Health obesity survey ranked four
TexasTexas cities
among the top 25 fattest cities in America;
HoustonHouston ranked 6th, Dallas
7th,
El Paso 8th, and Arlington 14th.
TexasTexas had only one city,
Austin, ranked 21st, in the top 25 among the "fittest cities" in
America. The same survey has evaluated the state's obesity
initiatives favorably with a "B+". The state is ranked forty-second
in the percentage of residents who engage in regular exercise.

TexasTexas has the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world,
and the rate by which
TexasTexas women died from pregnancy related
complications doubled from 2010 to 2014, to 23.8 per 100,000. A rate
unmatched in any other
U.S. stateU.S. state or economically developed country.

The
Texas Medical Center in Houston, holds the world's largest
concentration of research and healthcare institutions, with 47 member
institutions.
Texas Medical Center performs the most heart
transplants in the world. The University of
TexasTexas M. D. Anderson
Cancer Center in
HoustonHouston is a highly regarded academic institution
that centers around cancer patient care, research, education and
prevention.

San Antonio's South
Texas Medical Center facilities rank sixth in
clinical medicine research impact in the United States. The
University of
TexasTexas Health Science Center is another highly ranked
research and educational institution in San Antonio.

Texans have historically had difficulties traversing
TexasTexas due to the
state's large size and rough terrain.
TexasTexas has compensated by
building both America's largest highway and railway systems in length.
The regulatory authority , the
TexasTexas Department of Transportation
(TxDOT) maintains the state's immense highway system, regulates
aviation, and public transportation systems.

Located centrally in North America, the state is an important
transportation hub . From the Dallas/
Fort Worth area, trucks can reach
93 percent of the nation's population within 48 hours, and 37 percent
within 24 hours.
TexasTexas has 33 foreign trade zones (FTZ), the most in
the nation. In 2004, a combined total of $298 billion of goods passed
though
TexasTexas FTZs.

The first
TexasTexas freeway was the
Gulf Freeway opened in 1948 in
Houston. As of 2005, 79,535 miles (127,999 km) of public highway
crisscrossed
TexasTexas (up from 71,000 miles (114,263 km) in 1984). To
fund recent growth in the state highways,
TexasTexas has 17 toll roads (see
list ) with several additional tollways proposed. In central Texas,
the southern section of the State Highway 130 toll road has a speed
limit of 85 miles per hour (137 km/h), the highest in the nation. All
federal and state highways in
TexasTexas are paved.

TexasTexas has 730 airports, second-most of any state in the nation.
Largest in
TexasTexas by size and passengers served, Dallas/Fort Worth
International Airport (DFW) is the second-largest by area in the
United States, and fourth in the world with 18,076 acres (73.15 km2).
In traffic, DFW is the busiest in the state, the fourth busiest in the
United States, and sixth worldwide.
American Airlines Group 's
American / American Eagle , the world's largest airline in total
passengers-miles transported and passenger fleet size, uses DFW as
its largest and main hub .
Southwest Airlines , headquartered in
Dallas, has its operations at
DallasDallas Love Field . It ranks as the
largest airline in the
United StatesUnited States by number of passengers carried
domestically per year and the largest airline in the world by number
of passengers carried.

Texas's second-largest air facility is Houston's George Bush
Intercontinental Airport (IAH). It served as the largest hub for the
former
Continental Airlines , which was based in Houston; it serves as
the largest hub for
United Airlines , the world's third-largest
airline, by passenger-miles flown. IAH offers service to the most
Mexican destinations of any U.S. airport. The next five largest
airports in the state all serve over 3 million passengers annually;
they include
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport , William P. Hobby
Airport ,
San AntonioSan Antonio International Airport ,
DallasDallas Love Field and El
Paso International Airport . The smallest airport in the state to be
designated an international airport is
Del Rio International Airport .

Around 1,150 seaports dot Texas's coast with over 1,000 miles (1,600
km) of channels . Ports employ nearly one-million people and handle
an average of 317 million metric tons .
TexasTexas ports connect with the
rest of the U.S. Atlantic seaboard with the Gulf section of the
Intracoastal Waterway . The Port of
HoustonHouston today is the busiest port
in the
United StatesUnited States in foreign tonnage, second in overall tonnage,
and tenth worldwide in tonnage. The
HoustonHouston Ship Channel spans 530
feet (160 m) wide by 45 feet (14 m) deep by 50 miles (80 km) long.

Part of the state's tradition of cowboys is derived from the massive
cattle drives which its ranchers organized in the nineteenth century
to drive livestock to railroads and markets in Kansas, for shipment to
the East. Towns along the way, such as Baxter Springs , the first cow
town in Kansas, developed to handle the seasonal workers and tens of
thousands of head of cattle being driven.

The first railroad to operate in
TexasTexas was the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos
and
ColoradoColorado Railway , opening in August 1853. The first railroad to
enter
TexasTexas from the north, completed in 1872, was the
Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad . With increasing railroad access,
the ranchers did not have to take their livestock up to the Midwest,
and shipped beef out from Texas. This caused a decline in the
economies of the cow towns.

Since 1911,
TexasTexas has led the nation in length of railroad miles
within the state.
TexasTexas railway length peaked in 1932 at 17,078 miles
(27,484 km), but declined to 14,006 miles (22,540 km) by 2000. While
the
Railroad Commission of Texas originally regulated state railroads,
in 2005 the state reassigned these duties to TxDOT.